Annual. Culms stout, up to 14 (or even more) ft. high, 20–40-noded. Leaf-sheaths finely pubescent at the nodes; ligules very short, shortly ciliate; blades up to over 15 in. by 2 in., quite glabrous (? always). Panicle usually quite compact, ovoid or ellipsoid, erect or sometimes recurved, 4–6 in. by 2–4 in.; branches erect, more or less flexuous, rather slender, rough to spinulously ciliolate, particularly upwards, ciliate to subvillous at the base, the longest up to one half or a third the length of the panicle, divided from very low down. Racemes compact, tough, about 4 lin. long (in flower), mostly 3- or 4-noded; joints somewhat stout, flattened, 1/2 to almost 1 lin. long, whitish-ciliate; pedicels similar, but still shorter. Sessile spikelet rhombic-obovoid, subacute (in flower), 2 1/2–3 lin. by 1 1/2–2 lin., greenish or straw-colour with greenish tips, ultimately whitish or variously brown, dark red or black, awned or awnless, callus-beard scanty. Glumes equal, coriaceous up to beyond one half or two-thirds, then papery, unevenly strigillose, particularly at the tips and sides; lower with a broad triangular greenish strongly nerved tip, about 12-nerved with 3 or 4 finer nerves interspersed, 2-keeled upwards (keels rough), more or less flattened out and very broad to rotundate when mature with the tips worn off and the back glossy; upper broad, 9-nerved with some additional finer nerves, slightly keeled upwards. Valves ciliate; lower ovate-elliptic, over 2 lin. long; upper broad-ovate, 2-toothed, 2 lin. long, awn up to 5 lin. long, mostly much shorter and then hardly twisted and differentiated into column and bristle or quite suppressed. Anthers over 1 lin. long. Grain subglobose, slightly compressed, with a broad rounded much exposed top, white, yellow or variously reddish, 2 1/2 lin. by 2 1/2 lin., nerveless, embryo-mark faint. Pedicelled spikelet neuter (? always), persistent, lanceolate to linear-oblong, subacute, up to 3 lin. long, greenish or reddish, lower 11-, upper 7-nerved.
